A Star is Born, A Chris is Bored…

Recently I had the pleasure (opportunity) to watch the Blockbuster movie ‘A Star is Born’. It wasn’t my choice so to speak, so much as a demand from she who must be obeyed.

The most interesting thing I found about this movie, was that it acts as a really good metaphor for the Premier League exploits of one Southampton Football Club, If you squint a bit, and not take this blog too seriously, not get bogged down in ‘facts’ and take a monumental leap of faith.

Act 1

The movie starts well, and tells the tale of a talented but unfancied singer getting plucked from obscurity and into the limelight, doing so with a style and grace that brings the attention of the world upon them. Much like the arrival of Saints in the Premier League back in 2012. It’s fair to say that the initial exploits of our beloved club in the top flight were thrilling, unexpected and downright rude to the established elite. Under Pochettino and then Koeman, we made unprecedented leaps of improvement, propelling us into the limelight, and we did so with an exciting mix of youthful enthusiasm, a disregard for the establishment and an exciting style of in your face attack minded football.

Many stars were born, and like in the movie their heads were soon turned for ‘better’ things, while the creator refused to move on.

Act 2

The middle of the movie, and frankly the part where it lost me. When I wasn’t close to sleep, I was witnessing the mediocre section of the story, the bit where not a lot happens, where they have decided the story doesn’t need to excite anymore, it just needs to be there.

Very much what it feels like to be a Saints fan at the moment. For every star that went, the ability to replace them for better/as good as seems to have gone, a string of drab characters have come in and made no improvement on the man before them. It’s dull to watch and expectation weakens week by week, Saints are less challenging in the Premier League, they are merely existing (just).

Our identity as a club has gone. We used to be giant slayers, fantastic recruiters and promoters of youth. We are none of those things anymore. When was the last time we beat one of the big teams? When was the last time we brought in a player with the star quality of a Mane or a Pelle? When was the last time an Academy player got an extended run in the first team?

Act 3

The End, and a pretty harrowing one at that. As one star moves on and shines, the ones left behind stagnate and rot, and ultimately burn out.

For Saints, you wonder what the future is? Last season was a disaster and one you would have hoped the club would do all in their power to prevent happening again, but here we are, worse off points wise than this time last year. It feels like the club is stagnating, and being left to die. Is it the manager’s fault? Perhaps, but perhaps not, he can only work with what he is given. In Danny Ings, we have improved in one area that was poor last year, but defensively we look as bad as we have been in our Premier League history. What are Armstrong, Elyanoussi and Vestegaard bringing to the table? I’m of the opinion this is our weakest Premier League squad so far, and the interest level of fans is waning. Where has the excitement gone?

Something needs to change at executive level for me, the support for the manager no longer exists, though of course, they are an easy target for blame.

The End

If Saints don’t heed the warnings of previous experiences, the only way is down, and the most frustrating thing, like the movie, it’s a remake. We’ve been here before.

A Star is Born/Southampton Football Club 2/5 stars. Not worth the popcorn.

Chris

p.s. Bugger. I’ve just realised this works better with ‘A Christmas Carol’, so just read it again, with the Ghost of Christmas Past, Future etc. You get the idea.